It's the grand opening of the Charleston, SC, Neptune
Aquarium, and everyone who's anyone has turned out for the
big event. Theodosia ("Theo") Browning is the owner of
Indigo Tea Shop, and she's there as a caterer, providing
tea, scones, and assorted sandwiches. The entire event is
going well, and everyone is enjoying the refreshments. Theo
steps away to get a minute to herself, when she discovers a
man drowned in one of the aquarium tanks, snarled in a net.
To her complete shock, the man turns out to be her
ex-boyfriend Parker Scully.
The EMTs who arrive to take the body away do a cursory
investigation and determine that the drowning was an
accident. However, based on what Theo knew of Parker and
what she sees, she doesn't think that the drowning could be
anything but a murder. She wants to know who had a reason
to kill him, but the local police aren't eager to hear her
theories, especially since she's his most recent ex and she
could stand to profit from his death.
Theo decides to start her own investigation, although she's
pretty busy with a high-tech scavenger hunt for charity.
She's also catering various events around the area, trying
to make sure no one poaches her employees, and securing
supplies from local vendors. All of that while her current
boyfriend is out of town and unable to be as supportive as
either of them would like. Oh, and one of her suspects is
trying to harm her.
AGONY OF THE LEAVES was a fun and fast-paced cozy. I truly
enjoyed both
the mystery and the educational tidbits about tea that were
seamlessly woven into the story. While AGONY OF THE LEAVES
isn't the
first book in the Tea Shop Mystery series, AGONY OF THE
LEAVES was the first book in the
series that I had read, and I appreciated that it didn't
affect my enjoyment of the book at all. I was able to
readily pick up on who all of the characters were and their
relationships to each other. I also loved that the culprit
was a complete surprise to me, but simultaneously made
sense. In other words, there had been enough clues
throughout the story for me to figure out, but there had
also been just enough other suspects to keep me guessing.
I absolutely will go back to find other books in the highly
enjoyable Tea Shop Mystery series, as well as continue to
look for future
books in the series.
In the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling
author of Scones and Bones, Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia
Browning finds herself in hot water when a body surfaces at
the grand opening of Charleston's Neptune Aquarium... The
opening of the aquarium is a major Charleston event, and
Theodosia has been hired to cater tea, scones, and
sandwiches for the private party to honor dignitaries and
big buck donors. Things are going swimmingly, until
Theodosia escapes the party for a momentary rest, only to
discover the body of a man entangled in a net, drowned in
one of the aquarium's state-of-the-art tanks. To make
matters worse, the victim is Theodosia's former boyfriend
Parker Scully. The EMTs on the scene think Parker's drowning
was an accident, but when Theodosia notices what look like
defense wounds on his hands, she realizes that someone
wanted Parker dead. The local police aren't keen on hearing
her theory-especially because of her ties to the victim-so
Theodosia knows that if she wants Parker's killer brought to
justice, she'll have to jump into the deep end and start her
own investigation... INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME
TIPS!